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V 


Photographic 

Sciences 

Corporalion 


4^  ^ 


23  WiST  MAM  STIHT 

VVIISTII,N.Y.  14SM 

(n6)t72-4S03 


CIHM/ICMH 

Microfiche 

Series. 


CIHIVI/iCIVIH 

de 


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Technical  and  Bibliographic  Notes/Notes  techniques  et  bibiiographiques 


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0 

El 


Coloured  covers/ 
Couverture  de  couleur 

Covers  damaged/ 
Couverture  endommagte 

Covers  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
Couverture  restaurte  et/ou  pellicula 

Cover  title  missing/ 

Le  titre  de  couverture  manque 


I      I   Coloured  maps/ 


D 
D 


D 


Cartes  g^ographiques  en  couleur 

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Encre  de  couleur  (i.e.  autre  que  bleue  ou  noire) 

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D 


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une  image  reproduite.  ou  qui  peuvent  exiger  une 
modification  dans  la  methods  normale  de  filmage 
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D 
D 
D 
D 
D 
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Pages  damaged/ 
Pages  endommagtes 

Pages  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
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obtenir  la  meilleure  image  possible. 


This  item  is  filmed  at  the  reduction  ratio  checked  below/ 

Ce  document  est  film*  au  taux  de  reduction  indiquA  ci-dessous. 

10X  14X  18X  22X 


12X 


16X 


20X 


i 


26X 


SOX 


28X 


32X 


••MMKaMIIIM 


tails 
du 

sdifiar 
une 
nage 


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to  tha  ganarosity  of: 

Library  of  Congrass 
Photoduplication  Sarvica 

Tha  imagas  appaaring  hara  ara  tha  bast  quality 
possibia  consldaring  tha  condition  and  lagiblllty 
of  tha  original  copy  and  in  Icaaping  with  tha 
filming  contract  spacif ications. 


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gAnAroait*  da: 

Library  of  Congrass 
Photoduplication  Service 

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plus  grand  soln,  compta  tanu  da  la  condition  at 
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conformit*  avac  las  conditions  du  contrat  da 
filmaga. 


Original  copies  in  printed  paper  covers  are  filmed 
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other  original  copies  are  filmed  beginning  on  the 
first  page  with  a  printed  or  Illustrated  impres- 
sion, and  ending  on  the  last  page  with  a  printed 
or  illustrated  Impression. 


The  last  recorded  frame  on  each  microfiche 
shall  contain  the  symbol  -^  (meaning  "CON- 
TINUED"), or  the  symbol  y  (meaning  "END"), 
whichever  applies. 

Maps,  plates,  charts,  etc.,  may  be  filmed  at 
different  reduction  ratios.  Those  too  large  to  be 
entirely  included  in  one  exposure  are  filmed 
beginning  in  the  upper  left  hand  corner,  left  to 
right  and  top  to  bottom,  as  many  frames  as 
Required.  The  following  diagrams  illustrate  the 
method: 


Lee  exemplaires  origlnaux  dont  la  couvarture  en 
papier  eet  ImprimAe  sont  filmte  en  commenpant 
par  la  premier  plat  at  en  terminant  soit  par  ia 
dernlAre  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'Impresslon  ou  d'illustration,  soit  par  la  second 
plat,  selon  le  cas.  Tous  las  autres  exemplaires 
origlnaux  sont  filmte  en  commenpant  par  ia 
pramlAre  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impreaaion  ou  d'illustration  at  en  terminant  par 
la  darnlAre  page  qui  comporte  une  telle 
empreinte. 

Un  dee  symbolee  sulvants  apparattra  sur  ia 
darnlAre  Image  de  cheque  microfiche,  selon  le 
caa:  la  symbole  — ►  signifie  "A  SUIVRE",  le 
eymbole  Y  signifie  "FIN". 

Las  cartes,  planches,  tableaux,  etc.,  peuvent  Atre 
fllmte  i  dee  taux  da  rMuctlon  diff Arents. 
Lorsque  le  document  est  trop  grand  pour  Atra 
raproduit  en  un  seul  clichA,  11  est  filmA  A  partir 
de  Tangle  sup4rleur  gauche,  de  gauche  A  droite, 
at  de  haut  en  baa,  an  prenant  le  nombre 
d'imagea  nicaeaaira.  Las  diagrammas  sulvants 
lllustrant  la  m4thode. 


irrata 
to 


pelure, 
nA 


n 

32X 


1 

2 

3 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

-Sir**' 

Is 


THE  DISCOVERERS  OF  LAKE  SUPERIOR. 


BT  OIUBUM  MOOBB.  WAfRIHCWOB,  O.  a 


In  the  year  1634,  Jean  Nicolet,  a  yoang  Norman 
trained  in  the  Huron  mission,  poshed  through  the 
Straits  of  Mackinac,  visited  Green  Bay,  and  opened  vp  a 
traffic  with  the  Indians  of  that  region.  Betnrning  to 
Three  Bivers,  he  maintained  on  behalf  of  the  Canadian 
fur  monopoly  whose  agent  he  was,  an  ascendency  oyer 
the  remote  tribes  of  Indians  who  came  down  from  the 
great  lakes  to  the  annual  French  market.  He  was 
drowned  in  the  St.  Lawrence  in  1648,  and  left  among 
both  the  traders  and  the  Jesuits  a  name  honored  alike  for 
sagacity  and  for  piety.* 

A  year  before  Nicolet's  death,  Medard  Ohouart  had 
come  from  Oharly  St.  Oyr,  France,  and  had  entered  the 
service  of  the  Jesuit  missionaries  of  the  Huron  mission,  f 
In  1646,  Ohouart  left  the  missions  to  engage  in  the  far 


•  BenJ.  Suite,  MeUngw  d'HtoUdie  et  de  Litteratnra.    Oitowft.  un. 

VlmoBt,  Balatkm  of  MS,  p.  & 

Wlaoouln  HlBtorlcal  Oolleotioiu,  Vol  XI.  8M«itietob|'HeiurlAmui;aB4 
blbUogra^iy  of  JMn  Nioolet,  by  Oonral  WUIahIn  BattmSeld. 

t  YoTMM  of  Peter  Seprlt  BadlHon,  betog  wn  aeoonnt  of  hie  trnvele  «a<l 
•xperiences  MBoag  the  North  Americea  Indians,  ifrop  Utt  to  IMl  Tmb- 
■orlbed  from  the  oriclnnl  mnnuectlpte  in  the  Bodellnn  Ubmrjr  of  the  Biltitt 
IfuMnm.  Wlthhlitorloal  lllaatmtlone  end  an  Introdnotlon  by  Oldeon  D. 
Scull,  London,  Bngiend;  Boston,  pnbliehed  bj  the  Prlnoe  Soelety,  tW.  Shi* 
tnaolnatinc  work  will  repay  the  patna  that  muat  be  taken  to  maater  the  nun- 
bUnar,  confusing  narrative  written  In  Encllah  by  one  who  waa  but  teper- 
f  ectly  aoqnalnted  with  the  language.  Mr.  Scnll'a  Introdnotlon  la  Talnable, 
anong  other  reaaoni,beoauie  It- la  the  Interpretation  of  one  who  haa  oare- 
fuUy  studied  the  Badlann  maanaorlpta,  and.  so  faraa  It  |KieB,<la»  D»tanil 
1  Btarpretatton  of  Badlsaoo'B  namtlTt. 


^Sfht 


«jii 


; 


3    MIOBJQAN  POLITICAL  SOIENOB  ASSOCIATION.  [200] 

trade,  an  oocapation  for  which  he  had  decided  talent. 
He  prospered,  bought  land,  married  (1647)  for  bia  first 
wife  a  daughter  of  that  Abraham  Martin  who  gave  name 
to  the  Plains  of  Abraham,  and  assumed  the  name  of 
^^SieurdesGroseilliers."  Groseilliers,  as  he  was  afterwards 
called,  was  living  at  Three  Rivers  in  1651,  when  Peter 
Esprit  Badisson,  a  youth  of  adventurous  disposition,  came 
to  that  frontier  settlement  from  St.  Malo.  During  the 
following  year,  Badisson  was  oaptured  by  the  Iroquois, 
from  whom  he  escaped  to  the  Dutch  at  Fort  Orange,  and 
was  by  them  sent  to  Holland,  whence  he  made  his 
way  back  to  Three  Rivers.  On  his  return,  in  1664,  he 
found  that  dv.ring  his  absence  Qroseilliers  (whose  first 
wife  had  died  in  1651)  had  married  his  sister,  an  event 
which  was  to  link  th  air  fortunes  for  life;  and  two  years 
later  Radissun  himself  is  supposed  to  have  married.  If 
so,  married  life  involved  no  hostage  to  fortune;  and  from  a 
chance  remark  of  his  it  would  seem  that  his  affections  were 
bestowed  impartially  on  his  own  wife  and  on  the  wives  of 
his  neighbors.  Love  of  adventure  seems  to  have  been  his 
ruling  motive,  and  when  in  1657  the  Iroquois,  beset  bj 
foes  from  the  southwest,  found  it  for  their  advantage  to 
make  peace  with  the  French,  Radisson  made  one  of  the 
party  that  accompanied  the  Jesuits  to  the  newly  founded 
Onondaga  mission.  The  mission  was  so  much  of  a  fail- 
ure that  it  was  secretly  abandoned  on  the  night  of  March 
20,  1668.  Returning  to  Three  Rivers,  Radisson  found 
his  brotherin-law  planning  an  extended  journey  to  the 
npper  lakes,  an  expedition  for  which  the  times  were 
made  propitious  by  the  fact  that,  comparatively  speak- 
ing, the  Iroquois  were  occupied  elsewhere. 

During  the  twenty-one  years  *  that  had  elapsed  since 
Nioolet  rotornod  from  Lake  Mickigan,  no  Frenchmen 


[201]     TBE  DI8C0VBSEB8  OF  LAKE  SUPEBIOB.  8 

bad  pasBed  tbroagh  the  Straits  of  Mackinac*  The  war 
of  exterminatioDf  that  the  Iroquois  had  waged  against 
the  Harons  had  made  the  country  between  the  Ottawa 
and  Lake  Huron  extremely  dangerous  alike  to  the  fur 
trader  and  the  Indian.  The  trade,  intermittent  at  best, 
was  in  the  hands  of  the  Indians  who,  as  it  was  to  tran- 
spire, met  their  brethren  near  the  shores  of  Green  Bay 
and  purchased  from  them  the  peltries  that  they  ran 
through  the  Iroquois  blockade  on  the  Ottawa,  and  ex- 
changed at  the  French  markets  on  the  St.  Lawrence. 
Familiar,  doubtless,  with  the  travels  and  the  financial 
success  of  his  townsman,  Dicolet,  Groseilliers  planned  to 
follow  in  his  path;  and  his  familiarity  with  the  Huron 
country  (from  which  he  had  last  returned  but  a  few 
months  before)  made  this  plan  the  most  feasible  one  he 
could  adopt. 

About  the  middle  of  June,  1658, :(  Groseilliers  and 
Badisson  set  out  from  Three  Rivers  **to  discover  the 
great  lakes  that  they  had  heard  the  wild  men  speak  of." 
Besides  the  Indians  returning  from  the  fur  market,  there 


*  Itlapowlbletbat  aome  infomiKtlon  nwy  yet  transpire  todlicloMth* 
Identity  of  the  two  fur  traders  who,  acoerdinc  to  the  Belstlon  of  UBS,  made  a 
voyage  of  five  hundred  leagues  to  the  northwest  in  their  "gondolas  of  bark," 
and  It  Is  possible  that,  as  Wlnsor  says,  (Oartler  to  Vrontinac,  p,  188),  they  pen- 
etrated the  country  beyond  Lake  Michigan.  It  Is  probable,  however,  that 
had  they  made  so  extended  a  voyage  some  definite  acoonnt  of  their  travels 
would  have  been  made.  Kelther  the  Jesuits  nor  the  government  overlooked 
iuch  explorations.  Badisson  says  that  OroselUlers  was  familiar  with  the 
great  lakes;  but  the  context  shows  that  his  personal  knowledge  was  oonflned 
totheeastemshoresof  OeorglaaBay.  Suite's  .^<a1acture  that  OroselUlers 
and  Badisson  were  the  traders  referred  to  seet  >;  ■: o  me  unwarranted. 

t  Farkman's  Jesuits  in  North  America,  p.  411  ei'-  <;q. 

t  Badisson  says  that  he  and  OroselUlers  started  northward  about  the  mldr 
die  of  the  June  after  his  return  from  Onondaga.  For  a  most  ingenlus  dis- 
cussion of  the  OroselUiers-Badlsson  chronology,  see  an  article  by  H<inry 
Oolin  Campbell  in  the  American  Historical  Bevlew,  Vol.  I,  No  2.  Mr.  Camp- 
bell argues  that  OroselUlers  and  Badisson  were  the  two  Frenchmen  men- 
tioned in  the  Belatlons  of  laflO  as  having  returned  that  year,  after  having 
spent  the  winter  on  Lake  Superior,  that  Badisson  made  but  one  trip  to  Lake 
Superior  and  that  this  one  ended  In  16(0. 


I 


4    MICmOAN  POLITICAL  BOIENOE  A8aOOIATION.[m] 

were  in  the  party  abont  thirty  Frenchmen  anxions  to 
make  their  fortunes.  The  French,  anaccastomed  to  the 
discipline  of  the  forest  march,  repeatedly  exposed  them* 
■elves  to  attacks  by  the  stray  parties  of  Iroqaois  who 
waylaid  the  portages  in  search  of  plunder  and  victims. 
The  natural  result  was  a  conflict,  in  which  thirteen  of 
French  were  either  killed  or  captured.  Disheartened  by 
their  costly  victory,  the  remaining  whites,  excepting  only 
the  two  brothers-in-law,  set  out  on  their  return.  Gros- 
eilllers  and  Badisson,  thoroughly  inured  to  hardship  and 
fatigue,  kept  on  with  the  red  men  and  in  time  came  to 
Georgian  Bay.  There  the  party  divided,  one  going 
north  to  Sanit  Ste.  Marie,  and  the  other  keeping  to  the 
south.  The  two  adventurers,  accompanying  the  latter 
party,  coasted  past  the  former  mission  stations  of  the 
Jesuits,  and,  still  hugging  the  shores  of  the  bay,  came 
at  last  to  Great  Manitonlin  Island. 

It  was  Badisson's  belief  that  they  circumnavigated 
Lake  Huron.  Had  they  done  so,  they  must  have 
discovered  the  great  St.  Olair  river;  they  would  have 
been  perplexed  by  Saginaw  Bay,  and  the  passage  across 
the  lake  to  Great  Manitoulin  would  have  given  them 
trouble.*  Nor  would  the  time  actually  occupied  have 
been  snflScient  for  so  long  a  navigation.  Undoubtedly 
they  simply  made  the  circuit  of  Georgian  Bay;  and  a 
glance  at  the  map  will  show  how  natural  Badisson's 
mistake  was.  After  a  short  stay  on  the  island  and  a 
visit  to  the  '*stairing  haires"  (Ottawas),  whose  home 
also  was  on  Great  Manitonlin,  they  pushed  on  through 
the  Straits  of  Mackinac  to  the  homes  of  the  Pottawat- 
tomies,   who   dwelt    on  the    islands   at  the   mouth   of 


*  Campbell  argue*  the  ImprobablUtjr  of  Badlsaon'i  narrative  from  the  diffl- 
onlty  of  croMlng  Lake  Huron  In  a  canoe.  Thli  objection  diaappeaTS  when 
we  awume  that  Badiaaon  aimply  followed  the  ahorea  of  Oeorglao  Bay. 


[203]     THE  DIBC0VSBEB8  OF  LAKE  SUPEBIOR.  5 

Green  Bay  and  upon  the  western  ehorea  of  Lake  Michi- 
gan. There  they  spent  the  winter;  and  in  the  spring  of 
1669,  they  acccepted  an  invitation  to  visit  the  Fire 
Nation  (Mascoatins)  on  the  Fox  river.*  From  the 
Mascontins  the  travelers  learned  of  the  Bioax. 

"Among  others,"  says  Radisson,  » 'they  told  us  of  a 
nation  called  Nadoneceronon  (Sioux),  which  is  very 
strong,  with  whom  they  were  in  warres  with,  and  another 
wandering  nation,  living  only  upon  what  they  could  come 
by.  Their  dwelling  was  on  the  side  of  the  salt  water 
[Hudson's  Bay]  in  summer  time,  and  in  the  land  in  the 
winter  time,  for  it's  cold  in  their  country.  They  call 
themselves  Ohristinos."  The  men  of  the  Fire  Nation 
also  invited  their  French  guests  to  accompany  them  to 
the  annual  market  near  Green  Bay,  where  the  men  of 
the  Nation  of  the  SauU  brought  French  knives  to  trade 

for  skins. 

To  the  Frenchmen  this  was  an  interesting  piece  of 
information.     They  were  well  acquainted  with  the  Sanlt 
Indians,  for  th  jy  had  come  up  with  some  of  them,  and 
had  parted  with  them  at. Georgian  Bay.     It  transpired 
that  the  Indians  who  had  gone  north  made  the  passage 
through  St.  Mary's  river  and  thence  to  the  head  of  Lake 
Superior,  whither  the   Iroquois  had  forced  the   former 
dwellers  at  the  Sault  to  retire.     Evidently  these  Indian 
middlemen  had  kept  their  own  counsel  as  to  the  place  of 
market  where  they   obtained    the    furs    they    brought 
down  to  the  French,  and  the  two  explorers  now  learned 
the  secret.       The  Hurons  from  the  Great   Manitoulin 
also  made  it  a  rule  to  be  present  at  this  market,  and 
they  divided  the  trade  with  the  people  of  Sault. 

T^u'^n  G.  Thwaltem  in  Vol.  XI.  of  the  Wtaoon.ln  Hl-tor1^1-OollertlonB 
hMwprinted  the  narraUre  of  BwilMon's  Voyage,  to  the  North-West.  and 
hM  added  yalnable  notee. 


fl    MICmOAN  POLITICAL  BOIENCX  AB8OOIATIOy.['i04] 

Next  the  explorers  visited  the  Tatarga,  who  reaped 
twice  a  year  and  who  warred  againit  both  the  Ohristinos 
and  the  Sionx;  and  they  vainly  endeavored  to  get 
the  Harons  to  go  with  them  to  visit  their  kins- 
men who,  driven  by  the  Iroqnois,  had  taken 
ref  age  among  the  streams  that  flow  westward  into  the 
Mississippi.  They  did  not  however  encounter  the  Sionx. 
So  the  summer  was  passed  in  wanderings  in  the  country 
lying  between  Lake  Michigan  and  Mississippi.  Indeed 
Badisson  says  that  they  even  reached  "the  great  river 
that  divides  itself  in  two,  where  the  Harons,  with  some 
Ottanake  and  the  wild  men  that  has  wars  with  them  had 
retired.  This  nation  (the  Beef)  have  wars  against  those 
of  the  forked  river.  It  is  so  called  because  it  has  two 
branches,  the  one  towards  the  west,  the  other  towards 
the  south,  which  we  believe  rans  towards  Mexico,  by  the 
tokens  they  gave  us."* 

From  the  Tatarga  also  they  learned  of  nations  still 
farther  to  the  south  who  had  commerce  with  the  whites, 
and  even  saw  ''beads  of  gilded  pearls"  which  these  Indi- 
ans obtained  from  their  southern  neighbors.  Then,  urg- 
ged  on  by  a  desire  to  see  the  Ohristinos,  they  journeyed 
northward  to  Green  Bay,  declining  the  invitation  of  the 
Fire  Nation  to  visit  them  once  more.  Pushing  on  they 
reached  the  nation  of  the  Saalt,  who  were  then  appar- 


*  Mr.  Thwaltea,  In  hla  Story  of  Wlaooniin,  and  elMwhefe  cUlms  for  Badla- 
■on  and  OroMiUlen  the  ditcovwy  of  the  MlMlMlppl,  the  claim  beinir  founded 
on  this  paasage,  and  the  confirmatory  pauage  In  the  Belatlona  of  ism 
quoted  below.  To  this  it  may  be  answered  that  Badiwon  was  not  at  all  likely, 
to  fail  to  recognise  the  Importance  of  such  a  stream  as  the  mssissippi,  had 
he  really  seen  it.  The  paragraph  quoted  stands  in  the  manuscript  ai  an  after 
thought,  BO  to  speak,  and  ho  refers  to  the  subject  as  might  one  who  had 
heard  reports  that  he  more  than  half  believed,  of  a  great  riTer.  Their 
claims  to  the  discovery  of  the  MiMissippi,  or  the  olalms  made  for  them,  are 
not  to  be  compared  with  thoee  of  JoUet  and  llarquettei  who  started  on  the 
quest  of  the  great  river  and  found  it.  Just  ■•  Oolnmbus  realised  his  ideal  in 
the  discovery  of  America. 


mmmntam 


[206]     THE  DISCOVEBSSa  OF  LAKE  SUPERIOR.  7 

entlj  in  the  coaotry  soathwest  of  Lake  Superior.  There 
thej  foand  some  of  the  French  who  had  started  from 
Three  Rivers  with  them — probably  some  of  the  thirteen 
who  were  set  down  as  captared  at  the  time  of  the  Iro- 
qnois  fight.  There,  too,  they  met  a  party  of  Ohristinos, 
and  from  them  got  the  information  about  Hadson's  Bay 
which  they  were  afterwards  to  pat  to  sach  good  nse.  So 
passed  the  winter  of  1659-60;  and  the  next  spring  they 
retarned  to  Three  Biyers  with  a  large  and  valuable  cargo 
of  furs.* 

It  is  true  that  Badisson,  writting  from  memory  in 
1667,  would  seem  to  have  added  another  year  to  these 
first  wanderings,  but  there  is  no  circumstantial  account 
of  their  travels  during  the  third  year;  and  from  both  the 
delations  and  the  Journal  of  the  Jeauita  we  know  that 
they  were  on  the  St.  Lawrence  in  the  summer  of  1660. 
Indeed  Radisson's  own  mistake  in  chronology  fixes  the 
date  of  their  return,  for  he  mentions  passing  the  Long 
Sault  eight  days  after  the  massacre  of  DoUier  de  Oasson 
and  his  party,  which  occurred  May  21,  1660,  instead  of 
in  1663,  as  might  be  inferred  from  Radissbn's  manuscript. 

The  remainder  of  the  year  1660  and  the  first  half  of 
1661  was  spent  by  Groseilliers  and  Radisson  at  Three 


•  Wlnaorsays:  "There  is  no  question  that  OroselUlen  wintered  on  the 
shores  of  Lake  Superior  In  1668-W,  where  he  had  fallen  In  with  some  of  the 
Slouz  and  had  heard  of  the  great  river."— Oartier  to  Frontlnao,  p.  188.  I 
think  that  had  Badisson  and  Orosellliers  reached  even  the  frozen  western 
end  of  Lake  Superior  on  their  first  Toyage,  Badisson  would  have  said  so.  At 
the  very  least,  he  would  have  mentioned  a  fish  course  on  the  extended  bill  of 
fare  he  gives;  for  Ashing  through  the  loe  was  pra<-r.iced  by  the  Indians  about 
the  lake.  On  the  contrary,  this  winter  of  18W-00  was  spent  in  the  forests 
south-west  of  Lake  Superior.  Moreover,  Badisson  especially  says  that  he 
did  not  fall  m  with  the  Sioux,  and  irlves  reasons  why.  Mr.  Thwaltes  also  has 
Inferred  that  on  this  trip  the  ^two  Prenohmen  navigated  Lake  Superior  and 
visited  Sault  Ste.  Marie.  As  I  read  Badisson's  account,  he  definitely  says 
that  tho'lndlans  of  the  Sault  were  then  living  near  the  head  of  the  lake. 
When,  in  1881  he  reached  the  Sault,  good  manners,  he  says,  forbade  him  to 
speak  to  his  red  companions,  the  Indians,  of  the  places  from  which  they  had 
heea  driven. 


8    MICHIGAN  POLITICAL  SCIENCE  ASSOCIATIONim] 

Rivers  and  in  viaitB  to  Quebec,  preparing  for  their  con- 
templated  trip  to   Hudson's  Bay.     They  had   already 
learned  enough  of  the  routes  to  lead  them  to  choose  this 
time  the  northern  passage,  by  way  of   St.  Mary's  river 
and  Lake  Superior.     For  prudential  reasons,  however, 
they  determined  to  say  as  little  as  possible  about  their 
plans;*  and  thus  it  happens  that  while  they  told  some- 
thing of  their  previous  journey,  they  took  good  care  to 
withhold  the  most  important  part  of  the  information  they 
had  gained.     Moreover,  it  is  probable  that  the  two  Jes- 
uites  who  reported  what  was  learned  from  the  adven- 
turers, misquoted  them  in  some  particulars.     It  was  there- 
fore only  natural  that  historians  who  have  taken   the 
Jesuit  accounts  as  authentic  have  fallen  into  errors  with- 
out number.     One  writer  has  even  gone  to  the  length  of 
discrediting  Radisson's  explicit  statements  in  regard  to  a 
second  voyage  to  the  northern  countries,  and  insists  that 
but  one  such  expedition  was  made.f     Yet  it  would  seem 
that  whoever  studies  carefully  the  narrative  that  Rad- 
isson  has  left  must  be  convinced  of  that   writer's  essen- 
tial truthfulness. 

2he  Journal  of  the  Jesuits  for  1660  quotes  Laval 
as  saying  that  in  August  of  that  year  he  had  met  at 
Montreal  a  party  of  three  hundred  Ottawas,  who  had  ar- 
rived there  on  the  19th;  and  that  Groseilliers,  who  had 
gone  up  with  them  the  year  before,  was  of  their  party; 
that  they  had  started  from  Lake  Superior  with  one  hun- 


*  Badisson  says  that  his  stater.  GrowllUer'i  wife,  was  «'fP'?^»^'«  «•«"*? 
whence  the  Je*uit8  obtained  their  Informatloii.  a  rtatement  to  be  taken  with 

TMr!crmSun  the  HlrtoricalBevlew  article  adverted  to.  lays  stress  on 
EadUson'8  statement  that  be  passed  the  Lon»  Sault  on  bta  return  from  the 
«^nd  northern  voyage.  Mr.  ScuU  thinks  that  the  error  ta  due  to  a  dlsar- 
t^gem"nt  o?  ^Ifn-s  manuscrlpte.  which  were  among  the  Pai»«  ««•- 
t^^  by  the  Dutch  wpUln  of  the  "Oaper"  from  Ool.  Geor,e  Oartwrlght 
in  1065, 


...iii^i i.,i^ sii  ..;i'y w.iwtAW MMm^'-'W 


[207]     THE  D18C0VEBEB8  OF  LAKE  SUPERIOR.  » 

dred  and  forty  canoes,  but  that  forty  had  turned  back; 
that  Groseilliers  bad  wintered  with  the  Beef  tribe,  be- 
longing to  the  sedentary  Nadoneceronons  [Sioux];  and 
that  Father  Menar  [Menard]  and  Father  Albanal  had 
gone  back  with  them,*    The  Relations  of  1660  report 
a  conversation  between  the  writer  and  two  Frenchmen, 
wliich  took  place  at  Quebec  some  time  after  the  first  of 
August  of  that  year.     Tlie  writer  had  just  before  met 
near  Tadonssac  an  Indian  who  was  returning  from  an 
overland  journey  fro  n  Green  Bay  to  Hudson's  Bay,  and 
and  it  is  quite  possible  that  he  was  not  careful  to  dis- 
criminate what  he  learned  from  the  Indian  from  that  he 
had  from  the  Frenchmen.     At  all   events,  he  says  that 
his  enterprising  compatriots  had  just  arrived  at  Quebec 
with  throe  hundred  Algonquins  in    sixty  canoes  laden 
with  peltries;  that  tlie  Frenchmen  had  passed  the  winter 
ou  the  shores  of  Lake  Superior,  and   had  made  several 
trips  to  the   surrounding  tribes.     "They   saw,   among 
other  things,  at  six  days  journey  beyond  the  lake  to  the 
southwest,  a  tribe  composed  of  the  remainder  of  the 
'Hnrons  of  the  Tobacco  Nation',  compelled  by  the  Iro- 
quois to  abondon  their  country  and  to  bury  themselves 
thus  deep  in  the  forests,  that  they  could  not  be  found  by 
their  enemies.     These  poor  people,   retreating    across 
mountains  and  over  rocks,  through  the  depths  of  these 
vast  unknown  forests,    at   length  happily  arrived  at  a 
beautiful  river,  large,  wide,  deep,  and  resembling,  they 


•  As  to  thto  statement  «in«rl>«  ••id.  artt,  that  It  wm§  the  pnotloe  of  the 
Indians  to  divide  their  parties  when  going  through  the  old  Huroa  eountpy, 
so  as  to  elide  the  Iroquois  and  alio  to  obt*ln  food  the  easier.  Hence  the 
date  of  the  arrival  ->f  one  flotllU  does  not  «x  the  date  of  the  descent  of  aU  the 
Indians  during  the  given  year;  secondly.  th«  vagueness  of  Lavars  report 
shows  that  he  must  have  heard  of  OrotelUlers'  travels  from  a  third  person; 
third.  Laval  meant  to  say  th*t  Menard  had  returned  with  the  Indians  and 
not  with  Groseilliers.  WInsor,  Thwaltesand  others  have  faUen  into  error 
on  this  point.    Campbell  corrects  the  obvious  mistake. 


10  MICHIGAN  POLITICAL  SCIENCE  A8aOCIATION[20Si 

say,  our  great  river  St.  Lawrence.  They  found  upon  its 
shores  the  great  nation  of  the  Abimsec,  who  received 
them  with  great  kindness.  This  nation  is  composed  of 
sixty  villages."  Moreover,  the  two  i'renchmen  treated 
the  zealous  priest  to  tales  of  the  number  of  infants  they 
had  baptised,  gave  him  material  for  moralizing  by  re- 
porting the  horrible  punishments  for  adultery  in  vogue 
among  the  Sioux,  and  also  contributed  to  liiu  fund  of  in- 
formation by  the  statement  that  this  great  people  burned 

coal.* 

It  will  be  noticed  that  in  these  reports  there  is  no 
mention  of  the  Hudson  Bay  project.     As  to  the  mention 
of  Lake  Superior,  the  Frenchmen  might  easily  have  been 
misunderstood  when  they  said  they  had  passed  some  time 
in  the  Lake  Superior  country,  as  they  did,  and  with  the 
people  who  navigated  the  lake.     Again,  while  the  cor- 
respondence in  the  accounts  of  the  Mississippi  found   in 
the  BdatioM  of  1660  and  in  Radisson's  narrative   would 
fix  him  as  one  of  the  Frenchmen,  still  both  references  are 
too  indefinite  to  admit  the  certain  interpretation  that  he 
and  Groseilliers  actually  saw  the  great  river.     The  in- 
formation in  regard  to  the  Sioux  might  easily  have  been 
obtained  from  prisoners  of  that  nation  or  from  reports. 
Moreover,  the  statements  of  the  Frenchmen   were  not 
calculated  to  lead  the  Jesuits  to  hasten  to  those  fierce 
and  cruel  people. 

As  it  happened,  however,  the  Jesuits  had  already  de- 
termined upon  a  mission  on  Lake  Superior.  When  the 
Indians  with  whom  Groseilliers  and  Radisson  came  down 
were  ready  to  return,  on  August  28,  1661,  they  were  ac- 


•  In  the  face  of  BadlMon's  plain  •tatement  (p.  188)  "We  had  not  a*  yet  aeen 
the  nation  NadoneceronoM."  It 'must  be  Inferred  that  the  reports  of  the 
Frenchmen  were.  In  this  parttoular,  of  what  they  had  heard,  and  not  of  what 
they  had  seen. 


wms 


[209]     THS  DISCOVEBElta  OF  LAKE  SVPEBIOB.         11 

companied  by  Father  Bene  Menard  and  his   assistant, 
Jean  Gnerin.     The  party  took  the  usual  route  to  Georg- 
ian Bay,  and  thence  through  St.  Mary's  river  and  along 
the  south  shore  of  Lake   Superior   to   Keweenaw    Bay, 
where  the  father  started  a  mission.     In  the  Bdationt  of 
1662,  1668  and  1664,  Jerome  Lalemant  tells  the  pitiful 
story  of  the  first  martyr  of  the  Lake  Superior  missions. 
Had  not  Father  Menard's  heart  been  so  set  upon  the 
triumphs  of  the  cross,  and  had  not  his  frail  body  been 
so  sensitive  to  the  trials  of  the  wilderness  that  he  could 
find  no  words  to  describe  either  the  beauties  or  the  nat- 
ural features  of  the  regions  he   visited,  his  name  might 
have  been  associated  in   history   with   the   discovery  of 
Lake  Superior.*    He  was  the  first  white  manf  who  is 
known  to  have  sailed  on  that  lake;  but  his  letters  recite 
only  the  dangers  he   underwent  and  the  triumphs  of  his 
religion.     Lost  in  the   woods,    he  perished  while  on  a 
missionary  journey;  and  Jean  Guerin  survived  him  but 
a  little  more  than  a  year. 

In  June,  1661,  the  month  in  which  Father  Menard 
perished  in  the  forests,  Groseilliers  and  Badisson  started 
secretly  on  their  second  journey  to  the  nprth.  The 
reason  for  this  caution  is  not  far  to  seek,  if  Groseilliers 
assumed  the  right  to  traffic  on  his  own  account,  and  to 


•Mr.O«mpbelI,cnrloiulyeiiou8k.ucaM  that  InMmnch  m  BadliMnd*- 
elana  he  wm  the  flnt  Ohrlttlanto  see  the  Grand  Portml.  thefefore  he  miut 
tasTe  been  on  lAke  Superior  praTlow  to  vm,  the  jear  that  Menard  certainly 
pawed  the  Pictured  Books.  Inasmuch  as  nobody  knew  of  Menard's  Journey 
until  after  his  death.  Badlsson'a  statement  can  be  impewshed  wlthouta  sac- 
rlBc«  of  the  writer's  veracity .  But  If  Badisson  Is  to  be  beliered  so  ImpUdty 
on  this  point,  why  endeavor  to  make  bid  out  a  deliberate  falslAer  without 

motive  T 

t  It  is  possible  that  the  Frenchmen,  whom  Badisson  met  with  the  people  of 
the  Bault.  may  have  voyaged  on  lake  Superior;  and  Menard  says  that 
he  met  some  Frenchmen  near  Keweenaw  Bay. 

t  It  seems  to  me  absurd  to  attempt  to  sweep  away  all  of  Badlason's  clroum- 
stotttlal  narrative  of  the  events  that  ocottrred  between  his  flrst  and  second 

voyages. 


■  I 


i 


12  MICHIGAN  POLITICAL  SCIENCE  ASSOCIATION.  [210] 

go  to  the  Indian  markets  without  royal  permission.  Such 
a  thing  was  never  allowed  in  New  France;  and  it  is  no 
wonder  that  the  governor  not  only  insisted  upon  sending 
two  of  his  representatives  with  them,  but  also  stipalated 
that  half  the  profits  should  go  to  him.  This  concession 
Qroseilliers  would  not  grant;  and  as  a  result  the  two 
brothers-in-law  had  to  slip  out  of  the  palisade  of  Three 
Rivers  at  night  to  escape  the  perfunctory   vigilance  of 

the  guard. 

After  the  usual  trials   they   reached   St.  Mary's  river 
and  ascended  that  stream  to  the  Sault.     From  this  point 
to  the  head  of  the  lake  we  follow  the  two  explorers  in 
their  delightful  journey  along  the  grand  and  beautiful 
shores.     The  treasures  of  copper,  the  whirling  sands  of 
the  Grand  Sable;*  the  echoing  caverns  of  the  Pictured 
Rocks;  the  meadows  and  then  the  portage  of  Keweenaw 
Point,  all  these  are  described   in  due   order  and  with  a 
zest  and  a  minuteness  which  prove  not  alone  that  the  ex- 
plorers were  then  on  Lake  Superior  for  the  first  time,  but 
also  that  they  believed  no  white  man  had  been  there  be- 
fore them.     Arriving  at  Chequamegon  Bay,  they  built  a 
small  fort,  where  they  spent  the  winter.     The  next  spring 
they  visited  the  Sioux  and   during  the   summer  they  ac- 
complished their  original  purpose  of  reaching  Hudson's 
Bay.     In  1668,  they  returned   to  the   St.   Lawrence  by 
way  of  Lake  Superior. 

On  their  return  Qroseilliers  was  arrested  and  the  two 
were  heavily  fined  for  their  temerity  in  trading  with  the 
Indians  without  a  lioense.  This  action  together  with 
their  failure  to  enlist  French  capital  in  their  pet  project 
of  a  Hudson  Bay  establishment  led  Qroseilliers  and  Rad- 
isson  to  go  over  to  the  Euiirlish,  under  the   auspices   of 

•  OompkreBadlBson'B  descrtptlon  of  the  Grand  SaWowltb  tbat  of  Mr.  BeU 
Hubbard  to  "Memorial  of  a  Half  Oentury."  for  tlmtUrity  In  Impreaslona. 


mm 


kkmmmnmm 


mmm0r> 


mmmiii 


}N.  [210] 

Sach 
it  is  no 
Bending 
ipnlated 
icession 
:he  two 
>f  Three 
ance   of 

jr's  river 
lis  point 
lorers  in 
)eaatiful 
lands  of 
Pictured 
iweenaw 
i  with  a 
t  the  ex- 
ime,  bat 
there  be- 
y  bailt  a 
Kt  spring 
they  ac- 
Sadson's 
rence  by 

i  the  two 
with  the 
her  with 
it  project 
and  Rad- 
spices   of 


[all]      THE  DISCO  VEBSSa  OF  LAKE  8VPEBI0B.         13 

which  nation  they  finally  accomplished  their  purpose, 
and  as  a  result  of  their  efforts  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany was  formed. 

The  publication  of  "Radisson's  Voyages"  seems  to 
establish  the  following  facts:  Qroseilliers  and  Radisson 
were  the  Frenchmen  mentioned  in  the  Relations  of  1660 
as  having  wintered  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Superior  during 
the  winter  of  1668-9,  but  they  did  not  actually  reach  that 
lake  until  1661;  Father  Menard  was  the  first  white  man 
who  is  known  to  have  navigated  the  great  lake,  but  he 
gave  no  information  of  his  discoveries,  and  his  acquaint- 
ance with  its  shores  was  limited  to  less  than  half  the  dis- 
tance of  the  southern  coast;  Groseilliers  and  Radisson 
were  the  real  discoverers  of  Lake  Superior,  having  made 
note  of  the  essential  features  of  the  lake  from  its  foot  to 

its  head. 

Such  in  brief  is  the  order  of  the  discovery  of  Lake 
Superior  as  I  have  been  able  to  trace  it  in  "Radisson's 
Travels";  and  in  reaching  the  conclusions  given  above  I 
have  gone  on  the  theory  that  Radisson's   own  writings 
are  the  best  evidence   as  to  when   and  where  he  went. 
The  mistakes  that  have  been  made  by  other  writers  seem 
to  have  been  occasioned  either  by  the  fact  that  Radisson's 
reports  were  not  available  at  the  time  when  they  wrote; 
or  else  because  they  have  preferred  rather  to  follow  the 
information  given  in  the  Bdationa  And  in  the  Journal  of 
the  .;m«»Y«— information  professedly  obtained  at  second 
hand  and  from  persons  who  have  had  a  motive  for  con- 
cealing the  facts,— than  to  take  Badisson's  narrative  and 
endeavor  to  explain  bis  mistakes  in  the  light  of  present 
knowledge. 


tof  Mr.BeU 
preaslona. 


m 


*^ugiawMP* 


^ 


